In “How Does the New World Translation Differ from the Bible? Part 1,” I discussed basic translation differences and key verses that the Watchtower Society changed.
Starting with verses centered on Jesus’ identity is important because believing that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God is central to the issue of salvation.
However, many other vital issues of doctrine are affected by the New World Translation, including salvation, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and the existence of hell.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a high view of the Watchtower Society’s official translation of Scripture. Although they are willing to use other translations when talking to people, they view the NWT as the best version and the only one that rightly respects God’s Name.
If a Christen wants to effectively communicate with a Jehovah’s Witness and build a relationship with them, then they need to understand the New World Translation and how it affects the belief system of a JW.
Verses about Salvation
Believers in Jesus know that they are saved by grace through faith. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
No amount of good deeds or works can save us because we are all dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). We can never earn salvation, which is why we need to trust in Jesus’ death, burial, and physical resurrection to save us (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9-11).
When Jesus died, He bore our sins in His body and paid the penalty for our sins, taking the punishment we deserve (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). Only Jesus can save us (John 14:6; Acts 4:11-12).
In contrast to the teaching of the Bible, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that their deeds are essential to gaining salvation.
Although they commonly assert that salvation is by grace, they actually believe that only those who follow Jehovah’s Witness doctrine and are baptized as witnesses can be saved.
The Watchtower’s official translation has changed verses that talk about believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection for salvation to instead read “exercise faith.”
For example, in Romans 10:9, the New World Translation committee changed the verse to: “For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved” (emphasis added).
To a Jehovah’s Witness, faith in Christ is not enough for salvation. A JW believes they must work together with Jesus’ “ransom” to earn salvation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses fail to understand that good works are a result of salvation. We do not do good works to earn God’s favor or to gain salvation. Rather, once we have trusted in Jesus for salvation, He has good works prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
In the Book of James, we see this balance in that we are saved by faith, which is evidenced by works (James 2:18, 26). Jesus’ work of salvation changes us and motivates us to want to live for Him.
Verses about the Holy Spirit
Christians understand that the Bible teaches the truth of the Trinity. There is one God, who is three distinct persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
At salvation, believers receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He is our Counselor, Comforter, and Helper, who seals us in salvation (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; Ephesians 4:30). Christians affirm the truth that He is God.
In contrast to biblical teaching, the New World Translation changed verses about the Holy Spirit to promote the Watchtower doctrine that the Holy Spirit is merely a force instead of a Person of the Trinity.
For example, in Genesis 1:2, the NWT changed the verse to read, “and God’s active force was moving about over the surface of the waters.” Other verses have also been changed to refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” instead of “He.”
In John 14:17, the translation committee forced their doctrine onto the text when they rendered the verse as: “the spirit of the truth, which the world cannot receive because it neither sees it nor knows it. You know it because it remains with you and is in you” (NWT).
Looking at the rest of Scripture, though, we see that the Holy Spirit is a Person and is God. The Holy Spirit can be blasphemed and grieved (Mark 3:29; Ephesians 4:30). A mere force would not experience grief because it would not have the capability to feel.
Also, Peter specifically refers to the Holy Spirit as God in Acts 5:3-4. Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, which is why Peter elaborates and says, “You have not lied just to human beings but to God” (Acts 5:4). People cannot lie to a force, but they can lie to God.
Verses about Hell
In addition to changing verses that deal with salvation and the personhood of the Holy Spirit, the New World Translation has also edited the Bible to reflect their teaching of annihilationism. The Watchtower Society does not believe in eternal punishment.
Instead, the official teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses says that those who reject Jehovah God will be destroyed with no hope of resurrection but will not suffer eternal torment or punishment.
In key verses, the NWT promotes the doctrine of annihilationism by changing “hell” to “Gehenna,” which JWs say is figurative and refers to a place in the Valley of Hinnom where carcasses were disposed of.
For instance, the NWT translates Matthew 10:28 as “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Ge·henʹna.” The same word is used in other verses, such as in Mark 9:47.
To Jehovah’s Witnesses, the use of “Gehenna” promotes the idea that Jesus is talking figuratively of destruction, not of eternal punishment.
Although Gehenna is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name for the Valley of Hinnom and served as a place that symbolized God’s judgment (2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 7:31), to say that Gehenna is solely figurative ignores the wider context.
In Mark 9:48, Jesus elaborates that those who are thrown into Gehenna or hell are in a place where the worms do not die, and the fire is unquenchable.
Also, Jesus often referred to hell as the outer darkness, which is where people gnash their teeth and weep (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 13:28). The wider context of Scripture shows that Gehenna or hell is a place of eternal punishment.
In the future, those who are in hell will be resurrected and cast into the Lake of Fire (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:12-15). Scripture teaches that the Lake of Fire is the second death (Revelation 20:14).
A question for Jehovah’s Witnesses is why people would have to be resurrected to then be immediately annihilated.
The resurrection of the unbelieving dead only makes sense when we realize that they are placed in the Lake of Fire with the Devil, the False Prophet, and the Antichrist, where they are tormented day and night (Revelation 20:10).
All people deserve eternal punishment, separated from God. We are all guilty of wrongdoing and breaking God’s perfect law (Romans 3:23; James 2:10). To not punish sins would be unjust, which is why the Father placed our punishment on the Son.
As fully God and fully man, Jesus bore the Father’s holy wrath and punishment (Romans 3:25-26; 8:34). By placing faith in Jesus’s death and bodily resurrection, we receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Without Christ’s loving act of grace, we would all be left in our sins and condemnation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Biblical Interpretation
In addition to having a Bible that has been changed to fit the Watchtower Society’s doctrine, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also have an official set of teachings by which they interpret the Bible.
If you meet a Jehovah’s Witness and talk to them, you will quickly find that they process and interpret everything they read in the NWT based on Watchtower literature, such as the book What Does The Bible Really Teach? JWs also utilize the organization’s official magazines, Awake! and The Watchtower.
An example of how this impacts JWs is the account of the resurrection. The NWT has the same account of the resurrection, showing that Jesus ate food in His resurrected body and made the statement that He is flesh and bone, not a spirit (Luke 24:39-43).
Despite the evidence that Jesus was physically raised from the dead, JWs deny this truth and instead teach that Christ was raised as a spirit being.
Because the Watchtower teaches that Jesus is the Archangel Michael and not God in the flesh, they push the organization’s doctrine onto the text to make the Bible fit with their beliefs.
Therefore, believers who seek to share the gospel with Jehovah’s Witnesses need to recognize that the New World Translation has been changed but that it is not the final authority for JWs.
The Watchtower Society’s literature controls the way JWs interpret the Bible, which controls their beliefs.
What Does This Mean?
Based on the points we looked at in this two-part article series, the New World Translation is not a legitimate translation of Scripture. Instead of creating a translation of the Bible, the translation committee edited and changed God’s Word to fit the Watchtower Society’s doctrine.
The differences in the NWT affect how Jehovah’s Witnesses view Jesus’s identity, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and hell.
Using the knowledge of how the New World Translation is different from the Bible, believers can better engage and communicate with Jehovah’s Witnesses about the life-changing truth of the gospel.
For further reading:
What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?
How Does the New World Translation Differ from the Bible? Part 1
How to Respond to Jehovah’s Witnesses This Christmas Season
Are There Bible Translations Christians Should Avoid?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/KatarzynaBialasiewicz
Sophia Bricker is a freelance writer who enjoys researching and writing articles on biblical and theological topics. In addition to contributing articles about biblical questions as a contract writer, she has also written for Unlocked devotional. She holds a BA in Ministry, a MA in Ministry, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing to develop her writing craft. As someone who is passionate about the Bible and faith in Jesus, her mission is to help others learn about Christ and glorify Him in her writing. When she isn’t busy studying or writing, Sophia enjoys spending time with family, reading, drawing, and gardening.
